SAN RAMON, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/08/13 -- WANdisco (LSE: WAND), a provider of high-availability software for global enterprises to meet the challenges of Big Data and distributed software development, today announced it has made its WANdisco Distro (WDD) available for free download. WDD is the first fully tested, production-ready version powered by Apache Hadoop 2 based on the most recent release, including the latest fixes. These certified Apache Hadoop binaries undergo the same rigorous quality assurance process as WANdisco's enterprise software solutions.

The WDD team is led by Dr. Konstantin Boudnik, who is one of the original Hadoop developers, has been an Apache Hadoop committer since 2009 and served as a Hadoop architect with Yahoo! This dedicated team of Apache Hadoop development, QA and support professionals is focused exclusively on delivering the highest quality version of the software. WANdisco's Apache Hadoop developers have been involved in the open source project since its inception and have the authority within the Apache Hadoop community to make changes to the code base, ensuring fast delivery of fixes and enhancements.

Foundation for WANdisco's Enterprise Hadoop ProductsWDD lays the foundation for WANdisco's enterprise Hadoop solutions that deliver 24-by-7 availability, scalability and performance globally, without any downtime or data loss. By adding its patented active-active replication technology to WDD, WANdisco is able to eliminate the single points of failure (SPOFs) and performance bottlenecks inherent in Hadoop. With this technology, the same data is simultaneously readable and writable on every server, and every server is actively supporting user requests. There are no passive or standby servers with complex administration procedures required for failover and recovery.

"WANdisco's active-active replication technology not only aims to eliminate single points of failure in Hadoop, but it could also be used to extend Hadoop deployment over wide areas. Users could start to utilize Hadoop as a globally distributed resource," said Tony Baer, principal analyst for Ovum.

In the event of a network or server outage, failover is immediate and recovery is automatic without administrator intervention. There is no downtime, even in the case of planned maintenance. These capabilities can be delivered across data centers over a Wide Area Network (WAN) as well as a Local Area Network (LAN), providing users around the world with non-stop global business continuity.

"WANdisco, with its active-active technology, delivers the non-stop global performance, scalability and availability that enterprise customers are demanding worldwide," said DJ Das, Founder and CEO, Third Eye Consulting Services & Solutions LLC, a company focused on delivering services around Big Data and a WANdisco systems integration partner. "WANdisco Distro is the only production-ready, enterprise-grade Hadoop distro that guarantees 100% uptime with multiple active NameNodes deployed in every cluster."

"This is one of a number of key Big Data product announcements WANdisco will be making between now and the upcoming Strata 2013 Big Data conference in Santa Clara, CA, February 26-28. It's a great time for enterprises requiring a hardened, non-stop Hadoop," said David Richards, CEO of WANdisco. "Only our patented active-active technology removes the single point of failure inherent in Hadoop and works locally and globally. We are excited to have Dr. Konstantin Boudnik, one of the original developers of Hadoop, leading this rollout."

Professional Service and SupportWANdisco is also announcing enterprise-class professional support for organizations deploying Hadoop clusters utilizing WDD. More than a first line of defense, WANdisco support engineers are open source experts, providing in-depth professional assistance and ensuring customers get the most from their deployment. With WANdisco employees around the globe providing local support, customers are assured they are moving in the right direction toward their business goals. Services include online service request and case tracking, customer discussion forums, online access to service packs and patches, and more (see www.wandisco.com/support/hadoop).

WANdisco premium customer support services include a dedicated enterprise support manager to keep customers apprised of updates and quickly resolve escalated issues. This dedicated support manager monitors interactions 365/24/7, guaranteeing that high severity issues are addressed immediately after WANdisco Customer Support is contacted.

Pricing and AvailabilityWDD, based on Apache Hadoop 2.0.3, is available for free immediate download at www.wandisco.com/hadoop/download. Platinum Support covers global 24/7, is priced at $3,000 per node and includes Bug Buddy, Hadoop Cluster Health Check, 8 Hours of Free Consulting or Training, and Indemnification Coverage, protecting customers using WDD from intellectual property claims that can arise from the use of open source software. Gold Support covers 8 am - 5 pm (user chooses GMT, EST or PST) and is priced at $2,000 per node. WANdisco will release WDD updates via the same website.